Journalism student and protester Amulya Leona will be in judicial custody till March 5 after a magistrate court in Bengaluru ruled against her on Saturday.
The fifth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court in Bengaluru extended Amulya's judicial custody for a further five days after it initially remanded her to judicial custody for 14 days. Amulya was in police custody for the last five days and she will now be returned to judicial custody for the next five days.
In police custody, the accused is in the physical custody of the police, while in judicial custody, the accused is in the custody of the court. The Special Investigation Team interrogated her over the last five days.
Amulya, a journalism student from NMKRV College in Bengaluru, was charged with sedition after saying 'Pakistan Zindabad' in a rally in Bengaluru in the presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi. Amulya was slated to speak at the event in which Owais was the guest speaker.
The event was held at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on February 20. A video from the event showed Amulya saying 'Pakistan Zindabad' thrice on stage. This prompted AIMIM members to rush towards her and grab her mic. Following this, Amulya tried to complete her statement and said 'Hindustan Zindabad' but the organisers of the event and AIMIM members are still seen trying to get her to step off the stage. A visibly upset Owaisi was heard telling Amulya that she cannot say such things.
A suo motu case was registered against Amulya under section 124A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups and imputations) and 153 B (assertions prejudicial to national integration) at the Upparpet Police Station in the city.
A few days before she was charged, Amulya had written a Facebook post which said, “Hindustan Zindabad, Pakistan Zindabad, Bangladesh Zindabad, Sri Lanka Zindabad, Nepal Zindabad, Afghanistan Zindabad, China Zindabad, Bhutan Zindabad, No matter which country, Zindabad to all countries.”
Following her arrest, political leaders from across parties condemned her statement. Karnataka Agriculture Minister BC Patil stated that there needs to be a law to kill ‘anti-nationals’ referring to the sedition charges that have cropped up in Karnataka.
Sanjeev Maradi, a Sri Rama Sene leader in Ballari, also called for an 'encounter' to be done on Amulya if she is granted conditional bail.